| • Science | • People | • Locations | • Timeline |
Conspiracy theories in general allege that some particular event — such as an assassination, a revolution, or even the failure of a product — resulted not solely from the visible action of overt political or market forces, but rather from covert manipulation.
But because routine conspiracy theories are often simply allegations of covert action, and because these tend to be based on little or no solid evidence, the expression "conspiracy theory" in common speech is used to refer to allegations of collusion that the speaker considers unproven, unlikely, or false.
The word conspiracy comes from the Latin "conspirare", ("to breathe together"), and in contemporary usage it is a situation where two or more people agree to perform an illegal or immoral act. The essential components are the involvement of at least two people, secrecy and malicious intent.
The actual existence of countless thousands of such conspiracies is well-known and includes organized crime and gangs as well as cartels in restraint of trade, organized political bribery, and so forth. At any given time, hundreds or thousands of conspiracies are afoot. Such conspiracies are crimes in most nations, and one can be prosecuted on the basis of conspiring to commit an illegal act or being part of a network that was engaged in doing so, or even, sometimes, for knowing about a conspiracy and failing to act to oppose it. For a discussion of this sort of conspiracy, see the article conspiracy. (Note: The term "conspiracy theory" is thus sometimes also used to refer to sociological attempts to study the phenomenon of conspiracy.)
While the term conspiracy theory could refer to any theory positing the existence of a conspiracy (but as yet unproven), it can be used by people as a disparaging rhetorical device to refer to ideas that, in their opinion, are:
Historians generally use the term conspiracy to refer to a conspiracy that is considered to be real, proven, or at least seriously plausible and with some element of support.
The waters are muddied by the fact that powerful groups or individuals may have an interest in trying to discredit those who accuse them of real or imagined crimes. The label of "conspiracy theory" has been used to mock or denigrate social and political dissent, for instance when a powerful public figure is accused of corruption.
The term conspiracists can be used disparagingly to refer to a person who is likely to believe in a conspiracy; psychologists note that a person who believes in one conspiracy theory can be a believer in other conspiracy theories as well.
Ridicule, and even the diagnosis of schizophrenia has been used as a means of silencing political dissent, for example in the Soviet Union (see anti-psychiatry).
In justifying the classification of a theory as a conspiracy theory, detractors tend to level accusations that the theory is:
Defenders point out in response that:
As an aside, the first point in defense of conspiracy theories is an argument from ignorance; the second, an ad hominem attack; and the third, a circumstantial ad hominem. All three are logical fallacies.
For example, consider how one would prove the widely believed UFO conspiracy theoryThe UFO conspiracy theory is a conspiracy theory in which the major world governments (particularly the United States government) are believed to have proof that UFOs are the result of alien visitation but are suppressing this information for nefarious pu (in which aliens are said to have visited Earth), followed by the official denials (perhaps chiefly because the U.S. Government, or others, is hiding the evidence) that any such thing has happened. Since the theory does not specify when or where or how the visits or the conspiracy occurred, it is not possible to show it to be false. Even if, for example, we were given the run of the PentagonThe Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense. It was dedicated on January 15, 1943 and it is the world's largest office building. Those who work within its walls often simply call it "The Building" or, less reverently, "Fort (or some other government agency's) archives, the possibility always exists that there is an archive somewhere else detailing the conspiracy, to which we do not have access.
Jerry Bowyer , referring to allegations that the 2003 War in Iraq2003 Invasion of Iraq Date 02:30 UTC March 20, 2003 April 15, 2003 Place Iraq, Southwest Asia Asia Prelude Iraq disarmament crisis Stated Mission neutralizing alleged weapons of mass destruction, overthrow of Saddam Hussein. Targets alleged weapons of mas was the result of George W. Bush doing the bidding of oil companies, said that "I like this conspiracy theory better than the rest because it is one of the few that actually permits empirical disconfirmation". He considered that the declining share prices of oil companies was empirical evidence against this theory. [1] (In opposition to this, one may point out that subsequent looting of Iraq's oil fields by major American oil companies would be empirical evidence supporting the theory, though there are those who observe that this has not, or will not have, happened.) Note: As of 12th October 2004, Exxon Mobile's share price has risen by 48% since the invasion of Iraq, out-performing the Dow Jone's average by 18%.In response to this objection to conspiracy theory, some argue that no political or historical theory can be scientific by Popper's criterion because none reliably generate testable predictions. In fact, Popper himself rejected the claims of Marxism and psychoanalysis to scientific status on precisely this basis. (Most scientists today dispute the idea that Marxism is science at all; similarly, neurobiology and behaviorist psychology now agree that classic forms of psychoanalysis have no scientific basis.) This does not necessarily mean that conspiracy theory, Marxism, and psychoanalysis are baseless, irrational, or false; only that they are not science by Popper's criterion. Such arguments have raised a debate on whether Popper's criterion should be applied in the social sciences as strictly as in natural sciences. Popper's criterion has been criticised for slowing down scientific progress due to its restrictiveness. A debate between Popper and his former student Paul Feyerabend became quite famous.
Some people distinguish between falsifiable accusations of conspiracy and unfalsifiable conspiracy theories, though, in light of the above, it is not clear that this distinction is justified.
Conspiracy theories also, when they are proposed, bear the burden of proof.
Best-known among assassination conspiracy theories in the United States are those dealing with a rash of seemingly politically motivated deaths in the 1960s, notably those of U.S. President John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, and civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.
Investigations and scientific testing and recreations into the circumstances of John F. Kennedy's death have not settled the question of who killed him. That U.S. public opinion considers this still to be an open issue is suggested by three polls in 2003. An ABC News random telephone poll found that just 32 percent (plus or minus 3 percent) of Americans believe that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in the assassination of John F. Kennedy, while 68 percent do not believe Oswald acted alone. [2] The "Discovery Channel" poll (sampling method not given) reveals that only 21% believe Oswald acted alone, while 79% do not believe Oswald acted alone. [3] The "History Channel" poll (self-selected responses) details that only 17% of respondants believe that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in the assassination of John F. Kennedy, while 83 percent do not believe Oswald acted alone. [4] It should, however, be noted that opinion polls of this type are often subject to selection and response biases.
Similar theories have arisen around the assassination of Beatle John Lennon and the attempted assassination of U.S. President Ronald Reagan. In recent years theories about the death of Diana, Princess of Wales have made headlines.
One of the world's most persistent and longstanding conspiracy theories claims that clandestine religious groups (which may or may not actually exist in reality), carry out human sacrifice, usually of children. Such accusations are often levelled against those believed to be plotting against accepted religious and social norms. Notable groups accused of this include Jews (with whom the term is usually associated), Christians of various denominations, alleged witches, and most recently alleged "Satanic" groups.
A somewhat different version of this theory maintains that humanity is actually under the control of shape-shifting alien reptiles , who require periodic ingestion of human blood to maintain their human appearance.
See Blood libel for more details.
In the United States of America, during the 1980s there was an upsurge in the old belief of " Satanic ritual abuse". Hundreds of thousands of Protestant Christians became convinced that the United States was filled with child-sacrificing Satanists. Church sermons, newsletters and websites, and soon letters to newspapers and magazines, were filled with grotesque claims of tens of thousands of American children being kidnapped and murdered by supposed Satanists. These ideas soon made their way into the mainstream American media, where they initially were reported uncritically. This led to a wave of arrests against hundreds of innocent American citizens, whose neighbors suddenly began accusing them of kidnapping, child abuse or murder. Hundreds of these people were accused of being witches or satanists, and incredibly, they were convicted by a jury. Only in the mid 1990s did the wave of witch hunts subside; since then the reports of tens of thousands of missing children have been proven totally false; there was no massive increase in kidnapping, abuse or murder. Most of the convicted "witches" or "satanists" have since been released from jail. The entire phenomenon is now considered by historians and psychologists to be an episode of mass delusion , and witch hunts, augmented by the pseudo-scientific " repressed memory syndrome " idea, which has also now been discredited.
Secret societies and fraternal societies have aroused nervousness from some non-members since at least the time of the ancient Greeks. A secret society is a club or organization whose members do not disclose their membership, and may be sworn to hold it secret. However, the term is also used in conspiracy theory to refer to fraternal organizations such as the Freemasons or the Skull and Bones who do not conceal membership, but are thought to harbor secret beliefs or political agendas.
Conspiracy theory about the Freemasons goes back at least to the late 18th century. The Masons were accused of plotting the American and French Revolutions, the Jack the Ripper killings, the downfall of religion, and of dominating republican politics. In fact, the historian Georges Lefebvre, generally considered an authoritative source on the subject, concedes that the Masons had a role in organizing the revolution in the city, but says it is unclear how important their role was. Worry about Masonic conspiracy grew to such an extent in the early United States as to spawn a political party, the Anti-Masonic Party. The Bavarian Illuminati, a German secret society related to Masonry, also figures into conspiracy theories of that time. Rosicrucianism and the Priory of Sion are popular topics of conspiracists.
All the Catholic Popes in the last three centuries are subjects of conspiracy theories. Some people believe that Freemasonry was condemned by the Church primarily because of its view that all religions are equal; this view was diametrically opposed to the Catholic belief that it is the only true religion. Since many Catholics and some Protestants now agree with the Masonic principles condemned by the Church, new theories about the Masons have emerged, such as that they are devil worshipers. Others hold that these views about the origins of conspiracy theories about Masons are themselves conspiracy theories.
Some Rastafarians who take their beliefs to an extreme maintain that a white racist patriarchy ("Babylon") controls the world in order to oppress the black race. They believe that Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia did not die when it was reported in 1975, and that the racist, white media (again, "Babylon") propagated that rumour in order to squash Rastafarianism and its message of overthrowing Babylon. Other Rastafarians, however, believe in peace and unity, and interpret Babylon as a metaphor for the established "system" that oppresses (or "downpresses", in Rasta terminology) minority groups such as blacks and the poor.
College fraternities such as Yale's Skull and Bones society are also popular suspects among conspiracists. Many men form lifelong friendships with their fraternity "brothers" which some believe often carry on into the political and business world.
Suppressed inventions take conspiracy theory into the realm of business rather than politics. A typical suppressed-invention story is that of the incredibly efficient automobile carburetor, whose inventor was supposedly killed or hounded into obscurity by petroleum companies desirous to protect their business from an engine that would make their product obsolete.
The subject of suppressed-invention conspiracy also touches on the realm of medical quackery: proponents of more unlikely forms of alternative medicine are known to allege conspiracy by mainstream doctors to suppress their cures, particularly when faced with charges of medical fraud. Such conspiracies are often said to include government regulators, to the extent that a legal decision may be relevant. The experience of Durk Pearson and Sandy Shaw , who advocate the extensive use of supplements and drugs for life extension, contrary to FDA recommendations, may shed some light. They won a court case arguing that the FDA was preventing them from making medical assertions that were, in fact, well-supported.
Some medical conspiracy theorists argue that the medical community could actually cure supposedly "incurable" diseases such as Cancer and AIDS if it really wanted to, but instead prefers to suppress the cures as a way of extorting more funding from the government and donors.
The Phoebus cartel set up in 1924 certainly seems to have stopped competition in the light bulb industry for some years, and has been accused of preventing technological advances that would have produced longer-lasting light bulbs. [5] However, the Phoebus cartel also features in Thomas Pynchon's fictional Gravity's Rainbow, which has led some to blur fact and fiction.
It has been claimed that the Elsbett diesel engine running on plant oil had to put up against unfair competition practices.
There are also some theories around the research that Nikola Tesla was working with related HAARP.
A sector of conspiracy theory with a particularly detailed mythology has become the basis for numerous pieces of popular entertainment: the Area 51/ Grey Aliens conspiracy, and allegations surrounding the Dulce Base. Simply put, this is the allegation that the United States government conspires with extraterrestrials involved in the abduction and manipulation of citizens. A variant tells that particular technologies — notably the transistor — were given to American industry in exchange for alien dominance. The enforcers of the clandestine association of human leaders and aliens are the Men in Black, who silence those who speak out on UFO sightings. This conspiracy theory has been the basis of numerous books, as well as the popular television show The X-Files and the movies Men in Black and Men in Black II.
The X-Files based the plots of many of its episodes around urban legends and conspiracy theories, and had a framing plot which postulated a set of interlocking conspiracies controlling all recent human history.
A possible ET link to the crop circle phenomenon has been speculated upon.
David Icke's theory, which encompasses all the other conspiracy theories, is that humanity is actually under the control of dinosauroid-like alien reptiles who must consume human blood to maintain their human appearance, with evidence ranging from Sumerian tablets describing the " Anunnaki" (which apparently translates as "those who from heaven to earth came"), to the serpent in the Biblical Garden of Eden, to child abuse, fluoridation, and the genealogical connections between the Bush family and the House of Windsor. This theory has been the subject of several books.Many governments use intelligence agencies to promote national policies in secretive ways — in several cases including the use of sabotage, propaganda, and assassination. Intelligence agencies, such as the CIA, KGB, MI6, and Mossad, are a common element of political conspiracy theories precisely because they are known to participate in some activities similar to those described in conspiracy theories.
The motivations for nations starting, entering, or ending wars is often suspect. As with assassinations, the question that is often asked by conspiracists when a war breaks out is "who directly benefits?"
For decades, a common answer has been "munitions suppliers" — as argued by, e.g., Maj. Gen. Smedley Butler in the 1935 jeremiad " War is a Racket". [6] According to this view, there is always a party within the nation which would benefit from going to war, on whatever pretext: the sellers of weapons and other military materiel. President Dwight Eisenhower referred to this source of potential conflict of interest as the military-industrial complex.
Related is the allegation that certain wars which are claimed by politicians to be in the national interest, or for humanitarian purposes, are in fact motivated by the conquest and control of natural resources for commercial interest. In 1898's Spanish-American War, the explosion of the USS Maine prompted the US annexation of Puerto Rico, The Philippines, and Guam. Opponents of the war, such as Mark Twain and Andrew Carnegie, claimed that it was being fought for imperialist motives.
In recent times, wars in the Middle East such as the Gulf War and the invasion of Iraq have been described as wars for oil. During the 20th century the United States has also often been accused of plotting foreign coups d'état for commercial interest. Most examples of realpolitik (political actions regardless if they are considered unprincipled and immoral) can be considered conspiracies insofar as often a false reason or explanation is given so as to avoid criticism of immorality or false principles.
Any of the other frequently-alleged conspiratorial groups described above; secret societies, "The Jews", etc, have also been alleged as the mastermind behind wars.
Particular technologies of surveillance and control arouse concern that has bordered upon, or crossed over into, conspiracy theory. These are technologies being developed by governments which are intended to intrude into the privacy or harm the persons of citizens, particularly dissenters. Conspiracy theories of this sort cast government agencies as pursuing vast technical powers in order to spy on people, control their minds, or otherwise suppress an alienated populace. The plausibility of establishing such surveillance capabilities, by technical means or by a widespread network of informants, should perhaps be viewed in the context of events in former Eastern bloc countries, particularly the activities of the East German Stasi before the fall of the Berlin Wall. The various services provided by Google have also been considered to invade people's privacy, thus enabling intelligence agencies to monitor their activities.
Conspiracy theories of this sort include many about mind control.
Unusual technical projects such as HAARP and phenomenon such as Chem Trails are in this category.
There are conspiracy theories based on the notion that AIDS was a man-made disease (i.e. created by scientists in a laboratory). Some of these theories allege that HIV was created by a conspiratorial group or by a secret agency as a tool of genocide. Other theories suggest that the virus escaped into the population at large by accident, or may have been deliberately unleashed as a means of population control or as an experiment in biological and/or psychological warfare. See: AIDS conspiracy theories.
Some who believe that HIV was a government creation see a precedent for it in the Tuskegee syphilis study, in which government-funded researchers deceptively denied treatment to black patients infected with a sexually transmitted disease.
Apocalyptic prophecies, particularly Christian apocalyptic and eschatalogical claims about the end times, the Last Judgment, and the end of the world have inspired a range of conspiracy theories. Many of these deal with the Antichrist, the foremost figure of worldly evil from the Book of Revelation. This Antichrist, also known as the Beast 666, is supposed to be a leader who will create a world empire and oppress Christians (and, in some readings, Jews as well). In apocalyptic conspiracy theory, some person from current events is alleged to be the Antichrist, and some organisation (such as the Catholic Church or the United Nations) is alleged to be the Antichrist's world organization of evil.
Countless historical figures have been called "Antichrist" in their times, from the Roman emperor Nero to Ronald Reagan. At times, apocalyptic speculation has mixed with anti-Catholicism to yield the interpretation that the reigning Pope is the Biblical Antichrist. A more recent conspiratorial interpretation sees the Antichrist as a world leader involved with the United Nations, who will create a one world government
Two nations often involved in apocalyptic conspiracy theories are Israel and Iraq. The former is the location of both the Temple Mount and Armageddon (Megiddo), places seen as important in prophecy. The latter is the ancient location of Babylon, which also figures in Revelation. During the Gulf War, some suggested that Saddam Hussein had ordered the excavation and repopulation of the city of Babylon, thus casting Saddam as an Antichrist figure. Other interpretations have held that " Babylon" in Revelation refers to another mighty nation, such as the Roman Empire, or more recently the Soviet Union or the United States of America.
See also: Misinformation and rumors about the September 11, 2001 attacks and Zionist conspiracy theories regarding the September 11, 2001 attacks
Several conspiracy theories have been presented concerning the September 11, 2001 attacks, many of them claiming that President George W. Bush and/or individuals in his administration knew about the attacks beforehand and purposefully allowed them to occur because the attacks would generate public support for an invasion of Iraq and other aggressive foreign policies.
Proponents point to the Project for the New American Century, a conservative think tank that argues for increased American global leadership, whose former members include Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Vice President Dick Cheney and several other key Bush administration figures. An internal memo of the group claims that "some catastrophic and catalyzing event — like a new Pearl Harbor" would be needed to budge public opinion in their favor. David Ray Griffin, in "The New Pearl Harbor", p. 2004, questions this idea as it relates to the Bush 43 government and September 11 (Vancouver Indymedia article), as does film-maker Alex Jones in "911: the Road to Tyranny" (Internet Archive item).
Proponents also note Bush’s ties to Saudi Arabia, the nation of origin for 15 of the 19 hijackers, the fact that videotapes of the attack on the Pentagon have been confiscated, rumors that several dignitaries were told not to fly that day, and Bush’s initial opposition to a commission to investigate the attacks.
On December 1, 2003, Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean told National Public Radio’s Diane Rehm “The most interesting theory that I've heard so far — which is nothing more than a theory, I can't think — it can't be proved — is that [President Bush] was warned ahead of time [about the 9/11 attacks] by the Saudis.” Although he never stated he believed such a theory, Dean was widely criticized for his comments.
In response to some of the least creditable theories about the attacks Philip D. Zelikow, the executive director of the 9/11 Commission said that "One reason you tend to doubt conspiracy theories when you've worked in government is because you know government is not nearly competent enough to carry off elaborate theories. It's a banal explanation, but imagine how efficient it would need to be." [7]
This response does not, however include Alex Jones' theoretized global government .
The BBC News website posted two stories, stating that some of the alleged hijackers are still alive. Link here and here
The nexus between conspiracy theory and the urban legend is considerable: one need only consult American supermarket tabloids such as the Weekly World News to see foremost examples of both. Many urban legends, particularly those which touch on governments and businesses, have some but not all of the attributes of conspiracy theory.
For instance, during the 1980s the story that the Procter and Gamble company was affiliated with Satanism was a common urban legend in some circles. Is this tale, too, a conspiracy theory? It does allege secretive and presumably harmful action (support of Satanism) on the part of a group (Procter & Gamble, or its leadership). However, it does not have the expansiveness or attempt at explanation of historical events which earmark a conspiracy theory. It is too simple.
Particularly since the 1960s, conspiracy theory has been a popular subject of fiction. A common theme in such works is that characters discovering a secretive conspiracy may be unable to tell what is true about the conspiracy, or even what is real: rumors, lies, propaganda, and counter-propaganda build upon one another until what is conspiracy and what is coincidence becomes an unmanageable question.
One of the more literarily-acclaimed novels that draws on conspiracy themes is Umberto Eco's Foucault's Pendulum, in which the staff of a publishing firm intending to create a series of popular occult books invent their own occult conspiracy, over which they lose control as it begins to be believed. Another is Thomas Pynchon's The Crying of Lot 49, whose background includes a secretive conflict between cartels dating back to the Middle Ages.
Illuminatus!, a trilogy by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson, is regarded by many as the definitive work of 20th-century conspiracy fiction. Set in the late '60s, it is a psychedelic tale which fuses mystery, science fiction, horror, and comedy in its exhibition (and mourning, and mocking) of one of the more paranoid periods of recent history. The popular, humorous trading card game Illuminati New World Order is based in part on Shea and Wilson's fantasy.
Other authors who have dealt with conspiracy themes include Philip K. Dick and Robert Ludlum. Some might also categorize several of the Cthulhu Mythos stories of H. P. Lovecraft and others as conspiracy-related, though they might be more closely described as occult horror.
Oliver Stone's Academy Award-winning 1991 film JFK — based on books by New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison and conspiracy author Jim Marrs — suggests that President John F. Kennedy was not killed by Lee Harvey Oswald acting alone, but rather by a group opposed to Kennedy's policies, especially his supposed reluctance to invade Cuba to overthrow Fidel Castro, and Kennedy's purported eagerness to withdraw American armed forces from the Vietnam War. Members of the CIA, the Military-Industrial Complex, and President Lyndon Baines Johnson are implicated as responsible for Kennedy's assassination. Stone has stated that JFK was intended as a Fable to counter the Warren Commission's conclusions, with which Stone disagreed. In fact, most of the claims in "JFK" have been disproven, most notably by the History Channel.The 1997 movie Wag the Dog involves a pre-election attempt in the US by a spin doctor and a Hollywood producer who join forces to fabricate a war in a Balkan state in order to cover-up a presidential sex scandal. Interestingly, it was made before the Clinton / Lewinski scandal and the US led Kosovo intervention.
The video games Metal Gear Solid and Metal Gear Solid 2 also contain a shadowy group known as "The Patriots" who manipulate politics in America. There are also references to numerous conspiracies in the game. The computer game Deus Ex is also filled with various references to conspiracies like the Illuminati, Majestic 12 and Knights Templar.
The popular 2003 novel The Da Vinci Code draws on ideas of conspiracy involving the Catholic Church, including the real organization Opus Dei and the (probably fabricated) Priory of Sion.
What provides conspiracy theories with their power is that sometimes real life does imitate conspiracy theory. A number of actual government organizations or plans have been described as resembling the stuff of particularly paranoid conspiracy theories. Nonetheless, these are fully acknowledged by their respective governments, or by a broad consensus of mainstream experts, as being, or having been, real:
Main article: Bible conspiracy theory
An entire literature has arisen that concerns conspiracy theories related to the Bible.
Main article: List of alleged conspiracy theories
(not assassination)
Elvis Presley | Jim Morrison | Diana, Princess of Wales | Marilyn Monroe | Bob Marley | Peter Tosh | Lee Harvey Oswald | Kurt Cobain | Tupac Shakur | Notorious B.I.G.
|